Monday, February 25, 2013

During the summer, we were actively
trying to conceive. I found out I was pregnant at all of three days in.
Thankfully, unlike my first pregnancy, this time we’ve reached “full term” or
37 weeks. Bookended by those two facts, it feels like I’ve been pregnant my
entire life.

People I haven’t seen in awhile
are like, “You’re still pregnant?” Sometimes it’s fun to mess with those people
and tell them I delivered two months ago and watch the horror crawl across
their faces. But mostly I just smile, say that I have three weeks until my due
date, and waddle away muttering obscenities.

Did I willingly sign up to be
pregnant again? Yes. Was I aware of the gestational period length of our
species? Yes. Was I prepared for the discomfort and inelegance of the last
month? Most definitely no.

All manner of surprises have
been waiting for me this time around. Weekly pelvic exams! More blood tests!
More time for weight gain! Swelling! Yahoo! I’m beginning to think that delivering my first child at
35 weeks was a present, not the worst thing to ever happen to me. We’ve agreed
that this will be our last child, so assuming that everything goes smoothly, this
is the last time I’ll be pregnant. I try to remember this as I struggle for
breath after walking across the room.

Kudos to all women who have gone
the distance of a 40 week pregnancy. I never knew what an effort this last leg
was. Hopefully my next post will be about how I went into labor at 37.5 weeks.

Thank you to my sister in law
for taking the only belly picture of this entire pregnancy. I know I’ll enjoy
looking at this at some point.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Throughout Marryn’s short
lifetime, people have continually told me that she will “do ______ in her own
time”.

First was in the NICU when
she wouldn’t eat. The neonatologists, nurses, speech therapists, pastors, parents,
strangers, janitors, etc. all told me that she would start eating in her own
time. The doctors described a “light bulb” that would eventually turn on. Sure
enough, at about a week old, the light bulb turned on, and she ate continuously
for a year. Come to think of it, she really hasn’t stopped yet.

Next came “sleep training”. Despite
the advice of the 200+ books I read on the subject, I nursed Marryn to sleep
for the first several months of her life. When I came to my senses, I remember worrying
about how I would transition to laying her down for the night while she was
still awake. I shouldn’t have bothered because somewhere in between the 8th
and 9th month, she would quit nursing, sit up and gesture (for lack
of a better term) towards her bed. She’s been going to sleep on her own ever
since.

Fast forward a few months. As we
approached Marryn’s first birthday, I worried about how I’d wean her. Was she
ready? Was I? Should I do parent led weaning or child led? Every time I thought
about it, I’d end up in tears. Frankly, I was about to let the dogs decide when
to close the Mommy kitchen, and then she just quit being interested in nursing
- all on her own.

I could give several more
examples of coming to a milestone on her own terms…when she began smiling,
saying Mama & Dada, crawling, walking/running/careening, and the list goes
on. We’ll be going along with the same behavior for months on end, and I begin
to wonder when something new will finally happen, and then it does - like
overnight. Dad calls it the “stair step”, and it’s a fitting description.

Why was I surprised then, when
two weeks ago (after trying for SIX
months) Marryn independently decided she would like to use the potty and put on
big girl panties? I was so happy I almost cried. I tried to not get too excited
about it. Maybe it was just a fluke. However, here we are, still going strong. She’s even successfully worn big girl panties
outside the house and used public restrooms – much to my delight and
simultaneous horror. Thank God for Lysol wipes.

I’m not saying parenting is
easy, but sometimes you do luck out and things fall into place when they
should. I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that while I can’t force my
child into the next developmental step, I am becoming more comfortable with
waiting for her to reach it - all in her own time.

We've been doing a fair amount of car-pottying around here. When you gotta go, you gotta go.

About Me

We met in 2002 in college (Specifically in a Dallas bar at OU/TX, but that’s a story for another time.), and married in April of 2006. Ben is a medical sales rep and I work in the oil & gas industry. We live in Fort Worth where we enjoy spending time with friends and our knucklehead Ridgebacks, Boz and AD.